Originally Posted by leonardotmnt
Ranger, I've been wondering this for a while. Do you still ride both of those 4300's or have you just had two? If you still ride both I was just curious why you had two of the same model. No offense intended, I was just curious if you just liked the model that much or what?
Actually sometimes i wonder the same thing.
I think i have some of Noah's genetics because for some reason i like things in two's. When i was a complete noob after i tried a bike from Target (schwinn ranger-hence my name) I went and bought a Trek 4300 at my LBS. I liked it and obviously road it a lot.
Then about 6 months later i bought another used 4300 off of ebay. Why? Looking back I know why i did, but probably it was flawed reasoning. I have been in the office equipment repair business for about 15 years. It is a MAJOR advantage to have many like models around for swapping parts, comparing normal operation etc. I assumed by buying the same model of bike i would be able to learn how to work on one by observing the other, swapping parts etc.
So has it turned out that way and been a huge advantage? Probably not. But there have been some advantages like having the same wheelsets so i can swap them, etc. Plus i used to split the time between them more to equalize the milege and wear. I wear out a lot of chains etc. and riding two bikes, helps. But since i went clipless last summer, I have found it better to leave platforms on my older 4300 so i have a bike at the ready for a jaunt around the block with the kid, or to ride to work with work shoes, etc.
So, i guess that is the LONG answer to your question. No real good reason for anyone to do what i did. Just one of those things.
To address the issue at hand a bit more, I knew somebody would bring up the racing issue. I'm glad you did. Racing is the primary driving force behind expensive bikes, not durability. In fact many expensive racing parts have very little durability, or at least they don't last very long. THey are designed to be light and fast, which sometimes means they wear quickly. Tires are a good example of this. RAce tires wear out quickly and are more expensive.
My earlier post was addressing the comment that an entry level bike should only be ridden a couple times a week on light trails. I called BS, because it is. Price has nothing to do with how often or how far you can ride your bike. It has a lot to do with how fast you can make it go.
More expensive bikes are lighter which makes them faster. Usually not as much faster as most people would think but still faster. Simple physics dictate the why of this. So to summarize, ENTRY LEVEL does NOT mean only for recreational occasional riding. Basically it means heavier.